This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 4:02 p.m. on Jan. 22, 2026.
Global private equity fund (PEF) manager KKR is on the verge of acquiring management control of TACE, Korea's largest solar power generation company.
Although the dispute has dragged on as individual shareholders delayed the agreed transfer of management control, the assessment is that KKR has passed the critical point as the purchase of the senior lenders' loan claims is making real progress.
◇ KKR affiliate Create Asset Management pushes TACE acquisition with a total of 410 billion won
According to the investment bank (IB) industry on the 22nd, KKR completed the purchase of TACE loan claims held by Woori Bank and Bank of China at the end of last year through its Korea affiliate, Create Asset Management.
As the remaining lenders—Shinhan Bank, KB Kookmin Bank, Kyobo Life Insurance, Shinhan Asset Management, and Hanwha General Insurance—also want an exit (recovery of investment), the transfer of their loan claims is likely to occur soon. It is estimated that KKR will need about 410 billion won to acquire all of the TACE lenders' loan claims and even the investments of other private equity funds in order to secure management control.
TACE operates a 330-megawatt (MW) privately financed solar power plant installed on former salt farm and ranch sites around Anmyeon Island, Taean County, South Chungcheong Province. The total area is about 6.15 million square meters (㎡), and it produces electricity sufficient to supply about 100,000 households. It obtained a power generation business license in 2018 and started construction of the plant in Jun. 2022. It completed the notification of business commencement at the end of Aug. 2023 and is currently in commercial operation.
A total of 476.4 billion won was invested in the TACE project. Of that, 190 billion won was injected by KKR and domestic private equity fund Lantern Green Energy in the form of mezzanine such as convertible bonds (CB) and subordinated loans. One billion won was capital contributed by three individual shareholders at the start of the project for land purchases and other purposes. The individual shareholders attracted large-scale investments from KKR and Lantern to carry out the TACE project. The remaining 285.4 billion won is senior loans obtained from domestic financial institutions.
According to the industry, from the outset of launching the project and raising expense funds, it began on the premise that KKR and Lantern would acquire management control and operate it in the future. Although KKR and Lantern's investment amounts to 190 billion won, it is in mezzanine and loan form, so at present the three individual shareholders who invested 1 billion won hold all of the equity split among them.
The individual shareholders had agreed to transfer all their equity to KKR and Lantern for 10 billion won by Feb. 2024. This was confirmed not only with KKR and Lantern but also with the lender group. In case the individual shareholders failed to fulfill the promise, the lenders set all of their shares as collateral.
However, TACE suddenly hit a snag in 2023. Around Mar. that year, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration launched a probe into solar power generation projects, and in Jun., allegations of corruption by officials at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources emerged in the approval process for the Taean power project, prompting a prosecution investigation. In Sep. 2024, prosecutors indicted the officials and Lantern chief Lee on charges that there had been bribery crimes by officials during the past TACE approval process.
However, the bribery allegations date to 2019, and KKR invested in 2021, so KKR is not related to the corruption case. Separately from Lantern, KKR applied to the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) (now the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment) in Aug. 2024 for approval to acquire shares and received approval on Dec. 30 of the same year.
A legal industry source said, "The government's approval of KKR's share acquisition means it acknowledged that KKR can operate the power generation business smoothly."
However, the individual shareholders are said to be arguing that they will not perform the contract with KKR as well as Lantern, citing Lantern's prosecution probe and delays in government approval as issues. Instead of transferring equity to KKR, they have been pursuing for over a year a plan to refinance all existing loans through Hana Securities, but it is reportedly making no headway.
◇ "If lawsuits drag on like Namyang Dairy Products, it will be a heavy burden on the company"
After the individual shareholders declared they would not honor the existing contract, KKR decided to finalize the transfer of management control by acquiring the Lantern fund's LP investment and the senior lenders' loan claims. The acquirer is Create Asset Management, which KKR established in Korea.
As an event of default (EOD) has already occurred due to individual shareholders' breach of the loan agreement, if Create Asset Management acquires all senior loan claims and declares an EOD, the existing individual shareholders' equity can be forcibly sold.
Among the remaining lenders, Shinhan Bank, KB Kookmin Bank, Kyobo Life Insurance, Shinhan Asset Management, and Hanwha General Insurance are also said to be strongly willing to sell. An industry source said, "The individual shareholders have filed a complaint with the Financial Supervisory Service asking it to block the transfer of the lenders' loan claims, but as the transfer of loan claims is the lenders' right, I understand it is not a matter for filing such a complaint."
However, it is known that some institutions, which are both senior lenders and subordinated investors in the Lantern fund, hope to exit their subordinated investment at a somewhat higher price to meet target revenue rates, delaying the overall transfer of loan claims.
An IB industry source said, "With provisional seizures and other measures occurring against construction payment claims while management control remains unsettled, the lenders have little choice but to seek the sale of loan claims to resolve issues such as provision burdens."
A legal industry source said, "If the individual shareholders fail to perform despite signing a stock purchase agreement, there is a possibility that a prolonged legal battle will follow, as with Namyang Dairy Products in the past, which could pose a heavy burden on TACE."